The present invention relates to an apparatus for wet-heat treating a long cloth continuously.
In subjecting a long cloth to such treatments as pretreatment including desizing, bleaching and scouring as well as dyeing continuously, either a Parble Range (trade name) developed by the present applicants or a high pressure steamer has conventionally been applied. Wet heat treatment by using a high pressure steamer is effective for the said treatments of a cloth, and the treatment can be done speedily. However, a conventional high pressure steamer for wet-heat treating a cloth is usually used in such manner as to apply treating solution (a caustic alkali solution for pretreatment, weight reduction etc. and a dye solution for dyeing) in a liquid tank provided outside of the steamer body or in a liquid seal tank provided in the inlet side seal mechanism of the high pressure steamer, and then the cloth soaked with a treating solution in this way is introduced in the steamer body for the wet-heat treatment. The application of a treating solution to the cloth is done only one time prior to the wet-heat treatment, so that the amount of treating solution applied to the cloth is frequently insufficient according to the kind of cloth and an effective treatment of the cloth cannot be done satisfactorily.
For instance, in transporting a cloth printed with a dye of a prescribed pattern continuously through a conventional high pressure steamer under high temperature and high pressure wet heat for fixing the dye to the cloth, it is unavoidable that the interior of the steamer body reaches a state of dry heat and cannot be maintained in a state of wet heat, and it frequently needs a relatively long time (for instance, 2 to 3 minutes) owing to the deficiency of humidity until the dye is fixed completely to the cloth. Thus, it is impossible that an excellent dyeing can be done speedily.
It has been considered to soak a printed cloth with a large amount intentionally before the cloth is supplied in the high pressure steamer for the purpose of supplementing the deficiency of wet heat in the steamer body. In this instance, however, there are such difficulties that a part of the printed dye is transferred on the surface of the seal roll for staining the seal roll and the cloth is squeezed too much due to the nipping pressure in passing the cloth through a pair of seal rolls at the inlet of the steamer body.
Under such circumstances, the present applicants have proposed a new process and apparatus for wet-heat treating a cloth continuously. The outline of the process is such that, in a high pressure steamer having seal mechanisms provided with a liquid seal tank for wet-heat treating a long cloth continuously, a cloth to be treated is passed through the said liquid seal tank, which is filled stationarily with a definite amount of a treating solution, such as a treating solution or a dye solution, and then the cloth is transported continuously through the steamer body while immersing the cloth in the treating solution, which is introduced in a plurality of liquid apply tanks provided in the steamer body from the liquid seal tank, for subjecting the cloth alternately to steaming and boiling. The present invention relates to an improvement of the said apparatus.